Exploration and Conquest: The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620 (American Story (Paperback))

With my 5th, 3rd, and 1st grade children, we have been studying the explorers in the first part of our foray into American history. We had already covered all of the major explorers over multiple days. I used this book as something of a review at the end of the unit. For that purpose, it served wonderfully.Major explorers covered are Columbus, Magellan, Cortes, Pizzaro, de Soto, Coronado, Verrazano, Cartier, Drake, Raleigh Hudson. Topics covered include the conquistadores, the Lost Colony, Jamestown, relations with Native Americans, and the slave trade. There are only 41 pages in the main text, so obviously nothing is covered very in-depth. So, this is best seen as an overview. There is also a table of dates, names of other explorers, native american contributions to the world (food, medicines, etc), and other interesting information over several pages at the end of the main text.The reading level of this book is probably middle-school level. My 9-year-old son reads on a high-school level and enjoys non-fiction. He rated this book 4 stars. With all of the pictures, this is appropriate for a read-aloud in the elementary years, especially if the children have already been exposed to information about the explorers. The language in this bookThe author definitely takes the viewpoint that the Native Americans were by and large treated poorly and wrongly by the explorers, but she does frame the context well to make the reader understand why. Catholics could be bothered by some references to attempts to force the Native Americans to convert to Catholocism. Examples: "Large expeditions of soldiers, called conquistadores, were sent out to claim land and riches for the king and the Church of Spain. With them went priests who tried to force the native people to accept the Catholic faith. However, these people had their own strong beliefs and often had no idea what the Spanish were trying to teach them."This book is very well-written, with wonderfully rich language. It has beautiful illustrations. Overall, it is a very engaging overview of the explorers. I would highly recommend it to those who have middle school children studying the explorers, and for elementary students as well if the parent is willing to read it with the child. This is an outstanding book.

Very nice book, beautifully illustrated in watercolor pictures on every page. Easy to understand text even for grade school students, but still interesting facts and stories up to adult-age. This tells about the explorers to America, least of which was Columbus, who never sailed to North America. It answers the question, 'who were the Conquistadors?' 'What is known as 'the Spanish Main'? " What was the Spanish Armada?' We learn of Balboa, Ponce de Leon, Drake, Cortez, Walter Raleigh, Samuel de Champlain, Henry Hudson, and more. We learn about the settlement at Jamestown and The Lost Colony. Very interesting reading can hold students and adults spellbound. It doesn't read like a textbook so much; not just filled with dates and facts, but stories and the beautiful watercolor paintings. I highly recommend this book to teach explorers.

These are probably the most fair and unbiased books about early US history. Probably best for 3rd grade and up as it can get pretty detailed, where you're going to lose the K-2 crowd. Another note is that if you're looking specifically for US history, this book spends a good amount of time on politics and exploration in South America. Again, for the younger crowd, they could get lost in the details, or the wider scope.

Love these books. Perfect for elementary school. You can use all or parts to cover lessons on US and VA History!

Helpful Book with a well rounded perspective!

Great book, as is the rest of the series! We own all of the books in this series now and they've been a great resource for us as we learn about American history for homeschool this year. Highly recommend!

This book not only has great pictures but also has a lot of historical information in it. We have been reading a few pages each day as part of our year of American history studies. There is just too much information to read more than a few pages per day. My kids (7 & 4) love the illustrations!

Good information; colorful pictures to keep the attention of younger kids. However I would recommend a secondary book to be read in tandem, to experience all viewpoints as I personally feel some of the info may be biased.